Seven years have passed since I last asked this question. Since then we’ve had Dopers come and go, and of course, our experiences may have changed. So I ask again: have you ever eaten at a restaurant with a Michelin star (or two or three) attached?
Alas, I still have not. The closest city to me that Michelin even covers is Chicago, and though I’ve been there more times than I can count, it’s been at least 20 years since I set foot in that town. I also have family in Modesto, 118 miles or so from Yountville (where Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry (3 stars, last time I checked) is located). So if I’m ever in Modesto visiting family again and I have a shit ton of money to blow, I may eat there. Or I may not. I also remember a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place in Modesto that I may prefer to eat at. Who knows.
I took their Brisket class (yes, it’s $700 but I’m a 50-year-old man and smoking meats is my hobby). I can actually make a passable copy of their brisket now, but of course I’m only making 1 or 2 at a time so that helps. But now, since I learned how to make brisket from a Michelin star restaurant, I like to tell my friends I’m a Michelin trained chef myself! If they want any brisket they have to agree.
I was with a relative is in the wine business, and is enough of a regular to have a professional relationship with the sommelier and some other folks.
We had the 4 course lunch menu, which was quite reasonably priced (currently, their 4 course lunch is 165 euro… their 5 course dinner is 390 euro, way too rich for my blood), very good, and the wine we had was incredibly special as well. More than the food, which was excellent, the atmosphere/service are what made the experience. I know that we call servers at all levels of restaurant work waiters, but I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so “waited on” as I did at that meal. I’ve had service that is of the same sort, but this was definitely next level. I would absolutely go again.
We also ate at Frenchie in Paris on our honeymoon in 2018. They were awarded their star the next year, so maybe that counts? That was a much more modern-style restaurant (not ‘casual’, but without the pomp and circumstance formality of La Tour d’Argent), and one of the best meals I’ve had.
Yes, i actually ate at the French Laundry last summer, and I’ve been to a smattering of Michelin starred restaurants before that. They’ve all been good, and i enjoy the experience. There aren’t any near me, and my husband isn’t especially into fine dining, so i don’t do it often.
I ate at Peter Lugar Steakhouse when it had one. It was an experience. The waitstaff was as rude as legend had it. There was a large party seated next to me and my husband (he took me for our 25th Anniversary) and someone had the audacity to order chicken. The waiter refused to serve it to him.
The Kitchen in Sacramento is closer to Modesto than the French Laundry. I’ve been there. It’s good. Not sure I’d go again, but I might. ISTR it was a birthday gift to me from my wife. We went a couple of years before they got their star, and the price jumped quite a bit post-star.
Oh, hey! Yesterday Michelin announced the addition of the Boston area to their guide, and identified 26 restaurants. Now I can say I’ve been to…(checks list)…heard of…(checks again)…none, still.
I ate at a couple of bib gourmand places in DC, and that’s actually a pretty strong recommendation, IMHO. Good food, but less fussy and formal than the places with stars.
I was coming in to mention this. They had a story about it on last night’s TV news and didn’t mention the names of any of the restaurants!
Only one restaurant got a star – a single star. 311Omakase in the South End, which I have never been to. No Boston restaurants got more than one star. Several others were at least listed, but, as with Masrerschmidt, I haven’t eaten at any of those.
